Lucy Hobbs Taylor was born Lucy Beaman Hobbs in New York in March of 1833, the seventh of ten children.

She attended school as a young girl and continued her education at the Franklin Academy in Malone, New York. After her graduation in 1849 she became a schoolteacher, teaching in Michigan for ten years.

In 1859 she moved to Cincinnati where she decided to study medicine. She applied to the Eclectic Medical College, which denied her admittance based on her gender.

Undeterred, Lucy found a compassionate professor who agreed to tutor her privately. He suggested she might have an easier time studying to be a dentist, and Lucy agreed.

Once again, finding no dental school willing to admit her because of her gender, she studied privately under the dean of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery and was an apprentice to a former graduate of that school.

In 1861, she tried one more time to apply to a dental school, but this time when she was rejected, she decided to open a dental practice on her own in Cincinnati. Soon after, she moved to Iowa, where she practiced in Bellevue in 1862 and in McGregor from 1862-1865.

In that same year she was also elected to membership in the Iowa State Dental Society and sent as a delegate to the American Dental Association in Chicago.

In November of 1865, she was admitted as a Senior to the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, where on February 21, 1866, she earned her doctorate in dentistry, becoming the first woman in the world to receive a doctorate in dentistry.

She then moved to Chicago where she met James M. Taylor, whom she married in April of 1867. Through his wife’s encouragement and instruction, he also became a dentist.

The couple moved to Kansas, where they opened and operated a successful joint practice for many years.

After Taylor’s death in 1886, Lucy retired from dentistry and turned her attention to fighting for women’s rights and joining the suffrage movement. She wanted to be sure that those who followed in her footsteps would not have to struggle with the many roadblocks she was forced to overcome.

Her efforts paid off and by 1900, one thousand women had become doctors in the field of dentistry.

Lucy died on October 3, 1910, but thanks to her efforts in breaking down barriers, she has left a legacy for other woman to follow.

Today almost 35% of all dentists in the United States are female.